Edgar Allan Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum"

The author is mostly interested in telling about

• how a man was tortured and almost killed
• how prisoners usually escape from jail
• justice in the Middle Ages
• a rescue made by rats

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In what city does the story take place

• Rome
• Toledo
• Paris
• London

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When the narrator first wakes up in the dungeon, he sees

• a huge pit
• paintings on the wall
• total darkness
• a pendulum

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At the end of the pendulum is a 

• confession for the narrator to sign
• loaded pistol
• smooth, wooden ball
• sharp, steel blade

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How does the narrator get free from the bands which tie him down?

• General Lasalle cuts him free
• The rats chew through them
• The pendulum cuts through them
• He breaks them with his hands

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The walls of the dungeon do all of these EXCEPT

• begin to glow
• turn red hot
• close in 
• crumble and fall

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After the narrator drops something into the pit, a door opens and shuts above him.  You can guess that his torturers are

• giving him a chance to escape
• leaving more food for him
• looking to see if he has fallen in 
• putting more rats into the dungeon

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The reason the food is highly seasoned is to 

• attract the rats to it 
• keep the rats away from it
• increase the thirst of the person eating it
• cause the person eating it to pass out

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How does the narrator feel as the rats climb upon him?

• Disgusted but determined not to move
• happy that the rats will set him free
• Sad and ready to accept death
• Angry that all his food is now gone

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The story suggests that human beings 

• are just like rats
• hate to see people suffer
• are always ready to forgive wrongdoers
• are capable of great evil

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